This Striking Planet Was Found By A 17-Year-Old, Just 3 Days Into His NASA Internship

Hey friends, check this out – you’ll never believe what happened to this 17-year-old during his NASA internship! Wolf Cukier was starting at the Goddard Space Flight Center, probably expecting your typical intern duties like getting coffee or filing papers. But just three days in, he made an insane discovery – a brand new planet! Can you even imagine stumbling upon something like that so early in your career? 

This planet, called TOI 1338b, is located way out there, over 1,300 light-years from Earth. And get this – when you picture it, imagine a pastel-colored bomb! Scientists say TOI 1338b is “circumbinary,” which means it orbits two stars instead of just one. Talk about double the sunshine! Its two stellar roommates are like the cool nightlight and warmer leading light of the neighborhood. 

But the crazy part is, some high-tech space telescope didn’t actually capture all those fantastic images we’ve seen of TOI 1338b. Nope, they were created by an artificial intelligence program! Our telescopes can’t quite zoom in close enough from that distance. But who needs fancy lenses when you’ve got creative robot photographers, right?

And get this – Wolf’s discovery has totally blown up online! Over 1.2 million likes and 224k retweets on Twitter alone. Everyone wants to check out this new planet. 

Wolf is pumped to find more cosmic surprises in the future. And NASA will keep their eyes peeled with advanced robot photographers helping out. Who knows what other stellar secrets are out there waiting to be found? For now, let’s appreciate the beauty of TOI 1338b and celebrate the wonders that space exploration continues to reveal. 

With a whole universe at our fingertips, there’s always something new just over the horizon. Keep reaching for the stars, friends!